So You Should Be
by mangyhalfbreed
Summary: After a long Order meeting, Remus Lupin exits the room without as so much as a goodbye to Nymphadora Tonks. Slightly discouraged, she attempts to head home for the night. Sirius, however, has other plans in mind. And she's very glad she listened.


Finally. _Finally, _the Order meeting had ended. People were filing out of the kitchen of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place one by one and just as Tonks was about to make her own escape, a hand seized her by the elbow. "Those reports, my desk, tomorrow. You hear me, girl?" Growled Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody. His magical eye roved over Tonks' face and she could only offer him a cheeky sort of grin.

"Of course, sir. Consider it done." She stood up straight and pushed the older man's buttons by lifting her hand and presenting him with a mock-salute. After three years of Auror training with Mad-Eye breathing down her neck at every turn he's lost his intimidation factor. With her, at least. She's about as afraid of him as she is of Hagrid these days. "I promise that I won't let you down." Now she had to bite back a laugh.

Moody's good eye narrowed, shooting her a look that could've frozen water to ice with no problem. "Smart-arse." He released his grip on her arm with a scoff, shoving past her and clomping furiously down the narrow hallway. Tonks watched him go.

"You drive him mental, you know that?" barked a voice from behind her. She turned and was greeted with the face of her second cousin, Marauder, fellow Order member and escaped convict, Sirius Orion Black. He was smirking.

"What d'you mean_ drive _him mental? Have you met Mad-Eye? He's already there." She grinned and Sirius chuckled lowly, shaking his head. He looped an arm around her shoulders, seemingly oblivious to her personal 'bubble.'

"Ah, a fair point. A fair point indeed, cousin. I daresay you've been spending too much time around ole Moony and I lately. I fear we're becoming bad influences on your young, fragile-self," he said playfully, both eyebrows raised. Tonks let out a very unladylike snort and crossed her arms over her chest with a roll of the eyes.

"Whatever you say." She laughed. Deep, brown eyes fluttered and landed on her watch. A gift from her muggle grandfather. Tonks sighed heavily, stepping away from the man and running a hand through her hair of bubble-gum-pink. "It's getting late. I should probably leave. I'll see you tomorrow or somethi-"

"Nonsense!" Sirius exclaimed jovially. Tonks tilted her head slightly to the side and blinked towards him quizzically. "Stay here for the night. You have your own room in my house for a reason, Nymphadora." He insisted. The metamorphmagus shot him a piercing glare. Her scalp tingled and in the blink of an eye her hair exploded into a wild mane of crimson.

"For Merlin's sake, _don't call me that! _I don't care _what _you call me - just. not. _that! _I've told you a million times." She hissed lowly. Sirius' grey eyes brightened, alight with amusement and a sparkle of mischief. At this moment Tonks received a glimpse of the young man he used to be before a monstrous betrayal tore apart his world and landed him in the heart of Azkaban.

"I will never call you Nym-" he stopped himself short due to the sheer weight of her gaze. It felt as if she was staring into his very soul. "I will never call you_ that _again if you stay. Come and have a drink with me? Remus abandoned me for his bloody books. I'm sure you saw him practically sprinting out of here after the meeting ended." Now it was Sirius' turn to roll his eyes. "A bit of company would be nice," he said neutrally.

Tonks watched him carefully, her chest slowly deflating with each second of uninterrupted silence. Her hair begrudgingly slowly simmered down into it's favored shade of pink. Yes, she'd noticed Lupin's rather abrupt exit. And here she thought they'd been getting rather chummy but he walked past her without so much as a word of goodbye. She considers him a friend but lately she's been starting to think the feeling isn't reciprocated. More than a friend, if she's honest with herself. "Do I have a choice?"

"No."

"Then I 'spose I'll stay," she said with a smirk of her own.

_Six hours later..._

"Oh, christ." Tonks muttered as her hand worked at massaging a kink in her neck. Moments ago she awoke in one of the armchairs inside of the library. Across from her was Sirius, slumped over the sofa and snoring wildly. On the coffee table between them were two empty bottles of Firewhiskey and two silver goblets. How much did she have to drink? She rubbed her face tiredly with a yawn. Not as much as Sirius, she guessed. Aside from a bit of exhaustion and grogginess she doesn't_ feel _drunk. Sirius, on the other hand, currently had drool hanging off of his chin. He muttered something along the lines of, _'you look ravishing, love...'_ in his sleep and Tonks grimaced.

She rose to her feet and stretched towards the ceiling, releasing another loud yawn as she did so. She threw a blanket over Sirius and scooped up the bottles and goblets into her arms. She left the library and headed for the staircase, tip-toeing silently past Walburga Black's portrait and willing herself not to trip as she made her way downstairs. She fumbled into the dimly lit kitchen and managed to set everying down onto one of the countertops without a hitch. She sighed in relief, shoulders sagging. Now to drag herself up to her room and get some slee-

The sound of a chair screeching against the floor suddenly rang throughout the room. Tonks spun 'round on her heels in alarm, effectively sending the glass bottles to the ground where they shattered instantly as she did so. She took an instinctive step backwards until she bumped into the counter, wincing as a good-sized chunk of glass sunk into the sole of her foot. Brown hues flew to the source of the sound... _"Remus?" _she asked hesitantly, breath caught in her throat. He was on his feet, one hand still gripping the back of his chair. He looked very much like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Merlin, you scared the bloody_ hell _out of me!" She exclaimed, flailing her arms for dramatic effect. "What are you doing in here alone, anyway?" She peered down at her watch, brow creasing. "It's three in the morning." Her eyes widened slightly. Her initial shock was slowly fading and the dull ache in her foot was bringing Tonks back to reality. She leaned back against the counter to keep her weight off of it. "For the record, may I suggest turning a light or two on in the future? That way maybe next time you won't be mistaken for some kind of mass murderer lurking in the dark." With that a shaky yet playful smile tugged at the corners of her lips.

Remus' blue eyes softened, the look of surprise easing from his face though he still did not smile. "Tonks, I'm sorry. That was foolish of me. I couldn't sleep but I shouldn't have-... I'm sorry." He murmured and vanished the glass on the floor with a wave of his wand.

Tonks shook her head. "Don't be daft, mate. You didn't do it on purpose." She assured him. The girl moved to take a step forward but he stopped her.

"Your foot." He reminded her. "Here, let me help." Remus insisted. Tonks couldn't deny him. She nodded her head and Remus lowered his hands to her waist, muscles tensing slightly as he lifted her from the ground and sat her on the edge of the counter.

He Summoned himself a chair and sat down, taking her foot into his hands and cradling it carefully. He lifted it to his face and examined it with narrowed eyes. "This glass needs to come out." He looked to Tonks and found her biting her lower lip.

"Y-yeah, alright. Just do it quickly, please?" she asked queezily.

"Of course." His long fingers inched closed to the shard of glass and he took hold of it. Without further adieu he gave it a sharp tug and it came out without too much protest. Tonks couldn't help but hiss in pain.

"Fuckin' hell." She groaned.

"Language, Nymphadora," Remus said in his professorly tone. But there was a playful, teasing gleam in his eyes. The smirk which followed gave him away. He brought his wand to her soft flesh and muttered a quick Healing spell. Her skin tingled and Remus watched closely as the small wound sealed shut, leaving barely a scratch.

Tonks shot him a mock-scowl as he rose to his feet. "You're a prat, you know that?"

"I do believe I've been told that quite a few times, yes." He grinned slightly and set his hands on either side of her hips. "What exactly has made you come to that conclusion tonight?" he asked bemusedly.

"You didn't say goodbye to me."

Remus frowned slightly and he leaned in closer, his eyes dropping to her lips and back up again. "I didn't think you would particularly mind." Which was the truth. The thought that he and Tonks could be anything but fellow Order members is such a childish fantasy. Here she is, so young, so beautiful... So _close._ "I'm sorry, Tonks." He whispered.

All he needed was a signal. Something, _anything_. Any sign of protest and he would jerk himself away and apologize profusely - like he _should_ be doing, now! But in the battle of heart and mind, heart triumphed. Something... _something..._

"So you should be." Tonks murmured, closing the gap between them and brushing her lips against his without another word. And they gradually melted into each other - ignoring the sounds of Sirius' drunken retching echoing from above accompanied with the sound of Walburga's wild howls.

At this moment no one existed but Remus Lupin and Nymphadora Tonks.


End file.
